This invention relates generally to aircrafts, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling an aircraft.
When in flight, an aircraft may be oriented about a plurality of axes. The aircraft's orientations may also be referred to as attitudes including pitch, roll and, yaw. In both fixed wing and rotary wing aircrafts, it is common for the pilot to use a variety of positionable controls, such as sticks, levers, wheels, and pedals to position the control surfaces of the aircraft, and thereby control the aircraft attitude, altitude, speed and the like. In the simplest of systems, the controls are connected by cables to the control surfaces, for example cables may connect control pedals to the rudder of a fixed wing aircraft. In more complicated systems, the controls may have mechanical connections which are boosted by hydraulic servos, or the like.
As aircraft systems become more complex, the useful space in the cockpit which is accessible to the pilots becomes more nearly filled with instruments, switches, etc. A portion of conventional control systems is positioned adjacent the pilot's seat such that the control system is an obstacle when accessing or egressing the seat quickly, such as in emergency situations for example. Not only does this positioning create a visual blockage, but it also limits the size of the person that may access the seat.